Renewable energy technologies that generate electricity by wind, solar, geothermal, and hydropower range from 25 to 100 years old. Hydropower has limited expansion opportunities, and the remaining technologies cannot meet affordability and cost-competitive targets. Their historical novelty isn’t enough to make them economically successful or viable for today’s large-scale energy production needs. New solutions are needed. If alternative methods to generate clean electricity are not developed and put into practice, greenhouse gas emissions will continue to rise…as will the ever-increasing need for energy in the United States and throughout the world.

The good news is that there has been a resurgence in renewable energy exploration over the last few years. This interest has been accompanied by both inspired business ventures and enthusiastic political support, an atmosphere that is ushering in a tidal wave of funding and potential. Future success will hinge upon a combination of innovative talent and the willingness of corporations to progress past decades-old technologies. How clear the road ahead is will depend on our collective abilities to create solutions that will protect against global warming. We must create the breakthroughs that we need to change our environmental trajectory.

Achieving a sustainable future of green energy production requires us to regard green energy as our number-one priority. We must shift global economies from a dependence on coal and petroleum fuels to one that relies upon the renewable fuel[s] of the future.

THE CURRENT STATUS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES

Only a few of these technologies are currently in use; a few are also in the initial phases of development. (“Development” in this case referring to evaluating their potential ability to achieve a per-unit profit.) Currently-utilized systems are continually being optimized thanks to government funding and as a result of technology evolution (either in the form of direct new technology such as photovoltaics or as a consequence of other industries utilizing common/relevant hardware). Due to a decrease in their production costs, some new technologies are being brought back to the fore after a long period of dormancy. These retro-technologies—such as concentrated solar panels—are enabling older developments to once again be relevant.

If renewable energy’s ascent is to be accelerated, new technologies must be identified on the horizon, new integrated systems must be created and tested, and new R&D initiatives must be identified and funded.

The technologies currently utilized to produce today’s renewable energy only represents 2% of the technologies used to produce electrical energy in the United States. They include concentrated solar panels, photovoltaics (solar pv), wind turbines, hydrothermal, and geothermal systems. Some systems have been functioning for several years—and have even been increasing in use—whereas other systems (such as enhanced geothermal applications) have limited production operations.

Beginning in the early 1980s, funding from the Department of Energy made it possible for Concentrated Solar Panel (CSP) technologies to be created and developed in the U.S. National Labs. The result of that research was the first solar-thermal energy facility in the world. Its technology, however, laid untouched for almost 20 years: not until 2006 was it dusted off and reintroduced. Now, 25 years, later CSP is ripe for innovation. This is only one of many already-existing technologies that requires innovative evolution.